Fields

When Callies lost their ground at the North End Lake in 1970 to municipal development, the municipal officials must have felt sorry for us because they offered us a piece of virgin ground in Londt Park. This was accepted, sight unseen, with enthusiasm. Only when the site was shown to them did the committee realise what virgin ground meant — a moon landscape with a swamp in one corner.

Realising that there was still a considerable amount of work to be done before the ground was playable, the Club adopted a nomadic lifestyle, playing and training on various grounds, Firestone; the Oval; Diaz Club; Heatherbank and UPE, amongst others. During this time the Club organised work parties on the field and fund- raising for the levelling and grassing of the field.

However, it was not until 1978 that any great progress was made. The catalyst was the building of the hypermarket at Hunters Retreat. We negotiated with the contractors for their excess topsoil, hurriedly levelled the ground, and now had the makings of what is now the main field.

The next development was the installation of floodlights, done entirely by the members. Along with the floodlights came the meter room. Nicknamed Little House on the Prairie, this building incredibly became the hub of all the Club’s activities. It was a changing room, storeroom, committee room, bar, tuckshop and anything else it was needed for. Looking at it now that is very difficult to believe, but it was indeed the case.

When we restarted the junior section in 1980, it became obvious we needed to expand. This led to the development of the “B” field. Built specifically for juniors, this field nevertheless is a full size field and does stage senior games.

The Club has since acquired ground for a third field, adjacent to May Way. The "C" field has now been levelled and additional flood lights have been installed.